Translator and Editor: Skye and Einna
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Chapter 32
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Lucian stood in front of the mirror with his excitement overflowing. He turned away after touching the neatly fastened cravat for no reason.
There was an attendant beside him, but he could not even get close to Lucian.
The butler sent him to assist the young master every day, but the young master he serves is not an easy man to approach.
If you ask him if it is because he looks scary, he’ll say it’s not that reason.
The young man looks very good in his opinion.
The reason why he is afraid of the young master is because of his facial expressions and atmosphere.
His gorgeous appearance, that has no emotion, holds a strange sense of intimidation. Besides, his aura is really strange.
He felt like he is going to be in trouble if he approaches him recklessly. That may be the reason why he didn’t want to get close to him instinctively, but he didn’t want to give up his position to others so easily either.
Even though he’s been standing next to him all this time, the young master never looked at him.
The attendant acted as if he were invisible.
At this rate, the attendant was afraid that the butler would fire him for being incompetent.
But he thought he’d talk to him differently today because he seemed to be in a good mood.
The attendant carefully spoke to Lucian, who kept touching his cravat.
“Master, how about this gold silk cravat that matches your eye color rather than that calm black color?”
The attendant showed Lucian a fine-colored cravat.
“The silk was made by a craftsman who also supplies it to the Imperial Palace.”
Lucian, who was just looking at the cravat without answering, began to untie the cravat around his neck.
“Young master, if you will allow me, I can help you.”
The attendant acted confident. He even thought that he had studied cravat’s knot method for this day.
Lucian frowned slightly at his remarks, but he didn’t turn to look at the attendant.
“I’ll allow it.”
Only after a long pause did Lucian reply.
The attendant, delighted by his answer, hurriedly untied the black cravat and beautifully wrapped the gold cravat around his collar.
Lucian watched everything the attendant did through the mirror.
The attendant made his clothes neat and tidy, thinking this is a good opportunity to leave an impression on the young master.
Lucian, who was watching the scene with emotionless eyes, quietly raised his hand.
“Stop.”
“Yes, young master.”
Having returned to his normal and bland expression only after the attendant was done, he hurried out of the room after checking his condition in the mirror for the last time.
He quickly went down to the first floor with unusually cheerful steps.
Then he saw that a bright light was leaking out of the dining hall.
He stepped in with a pounding heart. A maid who saw Lucian opened the door of the dining hall.
While moving his feet urgently, he stopped in front of the door for a moment and took a deep breath before entering.
“Brother, are you there?”
Rachel, who came first and was talking to the Duke and his wife, welcomed Lucian.
“Yeah.”
Lucian smiled softly at Rachel.
The attendant, who had been following him, was frightened by the change in his expression.
He was someone who entered the estate after Rachel had already left for the South. That’s why Rachel, of course, saw Lucian smiling at her like normal, but it was the first time for many of the employees.
Therefore, the expression on his face surprised even some of the other employees that had worked there for years.
Even the maids and the chefs who carried food around them were surprised to see Lucian’s demeanor as they came out and stood by the table.
Lucian headed to his designated seat as if he didn’t feel the confused gazes that were thrown at him. Then he suddenly felt that something was off.
Rachel, who should have been sitting opposite him before, is sitting diagonally from his seat.
As he stood for a while without sitting down, Pedro said with a look of disapproval.
“You’re late, so just sit down.”
“…Lucian, is there anything you don’t like?”
Duchess Camilla asked. Lucian blinked slowly and looked at his designated seat and found a maid.
“Move this for me.”
Pointing his finger at the plate, knife, and fork ordering for them to be relocated, he sat opposite Rachel. Before Pedro, who had been watching the scene in silence, could say anything, Rachel spoke up.
“Sitting across from you reminds me of the old days, Brother.”
Rachel was very pleased. Seven years ago, she remembered him as a boy.
She turned her head and looked at Pedro while smiling.
“Duke, if you allow us, why don’t we face each other and eat today?”
The Duke, sitting at the center seat of the table at the end, made a reluctant expression with furrowed brows as if he didn’t want to agree with her request.
“Well then, can you call me Dad?”
“Duke, let’s eat together today as Rachel said.”
Camilla interrupted the conversation before Rachel could look at him with cold eyes, he really didn’t want to miss a chance.
“…If you really want that, Wife, then we should.”
Pedro’s words were made into reality by the butler waiting nearby. Lucian glanced at Pedro, who now sat next to him, and then he quickly turned his head.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Rachel.
Lucian was busy reminiscing about Rachel in her childhood days, it felt just like yesterday.
Since she left for the South, he’s only been thinking of Rachel as a twelve-year-old. He couldn’t imagine what she would look like after growing up.
In the greenhouse, in the study, in the garden, sometimes in the hallways—he thought of her constantly, but always with her childhood appearance.
And each time, Enzo would laugh his head off.
—Kekeke. You’ve really gone crazy. And the reason for going crazy isn’t even something interesting. It starts off with something trivial, then you just go ahead and become crazy. Just like me.
Enzo was well aware of Lucian’s condition because it was something he had also experienced. But even after hearing what Enzo said, Lucian didn’t feel that what he said was serious.
If it was something he could control in the first place, he wouldn’t have let his feelings go this far.
Among the locations that made Lucian think of Rachel, the dining hall was where he always saw Rachel most often as a child.
Rachel was always sitting across from him while they were eating. Sometimes their gazes would meet and they would smile at each other.
Lucian looked at Rachel as he cut the steak.
He didn’t realize what he was putting in his mouth because he was busy keeping her in his sight.
He looked at Rachel, now nineteen years old, who had lost weight in her cheeks. She was no longer just a twelve-year-old who was cute and had full cheeks.
Her gently lowered sapphire-colored irises dazzled.
Each time she blinked, her eyes that are reminiscent of the night sky disappeared and were revealed again numerous times.
Her eyes were bent into crescent moons as if she was having fun talking to Camilla.
Her fine hands and slender wrists that showed up every time she tucked strands of her baby hair behind her ears.
Her mouth that smiled happily, her red lips she uses when she bites into the cuts of the steak.
Lucian couldn’t take his eyes off her now older self for a moment, even though she is still quite young objectively speaking.
Among all the beautiful things about her, his most favorite part of her face is her eyes when she looks straight at him.
She looked at him with the same expression as when she was young, but her reflection in his eyes was completely different.
She looks a little more slender, more mature, more beautiful.
“Brother Lucian.”
“…Yes.”
His name flowed through her peach-like lips.
Rachel asked him, who was a little late to give her an answer because he was so busy being mesmerized by her eyes.
“You must have eaten well while I was gone. How did you grow so tall? I thought I grew up pretty well, but it looks like I’m still more than a hand’s span shorter than you, brother.”
No. He didn’t like eating anything because she wasn’t there.
‘I wasn’t able to eat well.’
Instead of voicing his thoughts verbally, Lucian just nodded.
“I think this is really good, right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Lucian finally glanced at the food on the plate for the first time.
Not knowing what he had been eating the whole time, he stared at the veal steak that he had already cut more than half off of.
“Ray, this is the one you like the most right?”
“You remembered it? But this is something that brother likes too. I remember that, too.”
Rachel smiled when she said she remembered it as well, that Lucian had loved veal steak too since she was young.
The smile she had on her face was his favorite.
There was only one reason why he liked veal steak.
Because she likes it. It’s just because of that.
In the first place, he was not interested in what went into his mouth because he couldn’t taste the food at all.
That’s why when he was young, he ate well without any complaints even if it wasn’t something edible for him.
Lucian looked at the eyes made out of the twilight sky as if possessed.
Finding himself lost in them, he made an effort to hold his knife and fork firmly.
I felt a sense of joy. It took no time at all for the joy rising up from the tips of my toes to take over my whole body.
It is hard to tell exactly where the joy originated. When he was young, he just wanted to continue to be with his younger sister.
From morning to night, he only wanted to meet with her.
He still felt the same way, but there was still a subtle difference somehow.
But what was that difference anyway?
He couldn’t manage to come up with an answer by the time he finished his steak, but he was still satisfied.
Rachel was sitting in front of him.
Her lips were curved up slightly. Lucian smiled softly at Rachel, and she returned this as well. She had a smile that suited her.
Camilla and Pedro watched the faces of those two silently.
Rachel and Lucian didn’t see the conflicted eyes of the ducal couple.
Thus the quiet reunion, as if they were in the eye of a typhoon, ended just like that as they were saddled with newly realized but vastly different thoughts.
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